I've been on Effexor for 2 years for really bad PMS symptoms. about 8 months ago I decided to go off of it after consulting with my physician. I ended up taking my 37.5 mg. on one day and the next day I would take half the dosage. It took about 6 months for me to wean myself off of it. I followed the above regimen for about a month and then I would take 1/4 of the pill alternated with 1/2 a pill. I also cut out sugar in my diet as much as I could and increased my protein and increased my exercise. I'm doing pretty well but have days when I have anxiety or feel down for no reason. I'm going to keep trying to exercise and watch what I eat but I may end up going back to some type of anti-depressant although I don't want to. I started out on Prozac about 5 years ago and then switched to Effexor when Prozac no longer worked for me. Has anyone had any success with Wellbutrin or anything else? Effexor gave me terrible side effects when I was going off of it even though I took a long time to go off. I felt dizzy and flu-ish. Thanks for any response.

I am glad that you have found us and hope that you find all the support and advice that you need. There are hundreds of people here who have different experiences with different meds and different situations. I have never taken Effexor myself but I have heard people talk of it on here with a mixed view (Different meds affect different people in different ways... so this might be something to bear in mind). You could try having a look at the resource centre for HealingWell (http://www.healingwell.com/pages/Depression/) as well as looking for private responses here on the forum.

I hope this is of some help and good luck!

Darren

Everyone has a guardian angel. They help pick you up when you fall, comfort you through your times of need and help you appreciate the times when things are going well.